Effective Targeted Delivery of RNA-based Vaccines and Therapeutics: RNA vaccine approaches have some advantages in relation to other vaccine technologies; they can be delivered directly into the cytoplasm and do not require nuclear localization to generate expression. Improvements of methods for mRNA synthesis and stabilization and development of improved self-amplifying RNAs have recently yielded promising results. RNA approaches also stimulate the host?s innate defense system, in part through activation of the TLR pathways that recognize single and double stranded RNAs. The primary goal is to develop improved platform technologies for the delivery of RNA into specific cells and tissues to improve the efficacy of HIV vaccines or therapeutics.